Abstract Objective Intuitive inquiry meditation is a unique form of Buddhist Zen/Chan practice in which individuals actively and intuitively utilize the cognitive functions to cultivate doubt and explore the concept of the self. This event-related potential (ERP) study aimed to investigate the neural correlates by which long-term practice of intuitive inquiry meditation induces flexibility in self-schema processing, highlighting the role of doubt and belief processes in this exploration. Methods Twenty experienced and eighteen beginner meditators in intuitive inquiry meditation were recruited (...) for this ERP study. The interactions of doubt and belief processes with concepts of the self and Buddha were investigated. A 128-channel electroencephalography (EEG) system was used to collect EEG data. The ERP data were processed and analyzed using EEGLAB. Results The data showed a double dissociation between beginners and experienced meditators (monks) in the concepts of the self and Buddha: intuitive inquiry meditation reduced the brain activity of beginners when viewing Buddha image but not when viewing a picture of themselves. However, in experienced meditators, intuitive inquiry meditation reduced brain activity when they viewed images of themselves but not when they viewed Buddha image. Further event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) analysis revealed that experienced meditators had a greater theta spectral power and higher intertrial coherence (ITC), indicating that they could more flexibly modulate ongoing cognitive processes than beginner meditators. Conclusion Intuitive inquiry meditation could help beginner meditators detach from the concept of Buddha but not from that of the self. However, in experienced meditators, the opposite was true. ERSP analysis showed that only experienced meditators exhibited significant alterations in brain activity dynamics during intuitive inquiry meditation, which might enable these practitioners to become spontaneously detached from the concept of the self. These findings revealed the neural mechanism by which long-term practice of intuitive inquiry meditation can influence the doubting process and its effect on self-schema processing. (shrink)

This study aims to examine the neural correlates of cognitive shifting during the Dimensional Change Card Sort Task task with functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Altogether 49 children completed the DCCS tasks, and 25 children passing all items were classified into the Switch group. Twenty children committing more than one perseverative errors were grouped into the Perseverate group. The Switch group had Brodmann Area 9 and 10 activated in the pre-switch period and BA 6, 9, 10, 40, and 44 in the post-switch (...) period. In contrast, the Perseverate group had BA 9 and 10 activated in the pre-switch period and BA 8, 9, 10 in the post-switch period. The general linear model results afford strong support to the “V-shape curve” hypothesis by identifying a significant decrease–increase cycle in BA 9 and 44, the neural correlations of cognitive shifting. (shrink)

This study explored the differentiated neural correlates of mental rotation in preschoolers with high and low working memory capacity using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Altogether 38 Chinese preschoolers completed the Working Memory Capacity test, the Mental Rotation, and its Control tasks. They were divided into High-WMC and Low-WMC groups based on the WMC scores. The behavioral and fNIRS results indicated that: there were no significant differences in MR task performance between the High-WMC and Low-WMC group ; the Low-WMC group activated BA6, (...) BA8, BA 9, and BA 44, whereas the High-WMC group activated BA8, BA10 and BA 44 during mental rotation; significant differences were found in the activation of BA44 and BA9 between the High-WMC and Low-WMC groups during mental rotation; and the High-WMC and Low-WMC groups differed significantly in the activation of BA 9 and BA10 during the control tasks, indicating that both areas might be responsible for the group differences in working memory. (shrink)